Manual Expression Beats Breast Pump for Prolonging Breast-Feeding in Poor Feeders

Mothers of poorly feeding infants who initially expressed milk by hand were more likely to breast-feed at 2 months than those who used a breast pump.

Term infants with difficulty latching, sucking, or both shortly after birth are at risk for discontinuing breast-feeding. Their mothers are often encouraged to express breast milk to promote milk production while efforts are made to improve the mechanics of breast-feeding. To determine if hand expression is better than breast pumping in this situation, investigators randomized 68 mothers at three California institutions to be taught milk expression either by hand or electric breast pump after an unsuccessful breast-feeding attempt between 12 and 36 hours after birth. Mothers were followed for up to 2 months after childbirth.

No significant differences between the two groups were found in median volume of expressed milk, change in infant weig…

Reviewing Author

William P. Kanto, Jr.,, MD